


Senior Year

by Skye_Harvey



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-16 14:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Harvey/pseuds/Skye_Harvey
Summary: Built around Pitch Perfect 2, this bechloe fanfiction is going to fill in the gaps - what are all those looks between Beca and Chloe really about? In their senior year it's time for them to decide what's really going on between them...I don't own any of the characters obviously, but anything that isn't in the originally film was made up by my brain. (I promise) This work is also being posted on Wattpad.





	1. The Kennedy Centre

Senior year. The final chance Beca had to show the world who the Bellas were, although it wasn’t as if they could get any better having won the ICCAs three years running. She looked around at the other girls and smiled to herself. This was going to be a performance like no other. All she could do was keep her fingers crossed that it would go as well as it had done in their rehearsals.

'They say you’re a freak when we’re having fun,' and in that moment, the Bellas were in the zone – time to wish the President a very happy birthday. With the sound of the backing parts, Beca made her way down the steps to centre stage, Chloe beside her. She daren’t look to her co-group-leader during such an important performance but she could tell the redhead was as excited as she was.

'It’s going down, I’m yelling timber!' Cynthia Rose took the floor, the crowd cheering. Glancing up to the President, Beca could have sworn she saw him singing along. Her feet automatically moved to their positions as her full concentration remained on singing the words; even after all this time, focussing on your own part with a bunch of other sounds going on was a challenge.

'She says she won’t, but I bet she will.' The end of ‘timber’ brought the break-down. At the back of the stage, Beca could keep an eye on the other Bellas. Everyone seemed to be in the right place, and no-one had been hit in the face with one of the fake gun props yet. As quick as it had started, the break-down came to a close leading into the national anthem. Glad her feet knew what they were doing, Beca found herself at the front of the stage once more, hand on heart and singing the best she could as her lungs began to ache.

'From sea to shining sea.' The large blue curtain which had been acting as their backdrop flew up to reveal Fat Amy on a silk seat. Never quite sure how to react, Beca tries to concentrate on her part alone. She’d always meant to ask Chloe why Fat Amy had been allowed to do that. The last time she checked, the dangling Bella didn’t even like heights. “I came in like a wrecking ball.”

Ribbons were now flying in all sorts of directions. Beca was waving her baton silk sticks, or whatever Chloe had called them, and Amy was doing some armography that she’d spent the last few weeks working on. All in all it was looking good. With any luck, they might just get to the end without- 'Yeah, you wreck – me!'


	2. The Dean

“Come on Chloe, they’re not gonna burn us for witchcraft. We’ve won three champions. Whatever happens in there, we’re gonna be fine.”

The redhead had been pacing since they arrived outside the dean’s office fourty minutes ago. The other Bellas were silent, a range of thoughts running through their heads although no-one had been brave enough to voice them.

“The Bellas are my life! I’ve intentionally failed Russian Lit three times to be a Bella. This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to us. Ever.” Giving up with her pacing, Chloe sat down beside Beca and let out a heavy sigh. At that exact moment, a scary looking woman entered the room and told them to go into the dean’s office.

“The Bellas are suspended. A breakdown of the situation is covered in this document.” The blonde woman didn’t even look a little remorseful for the situation. As for the man sat beside her, he was eyeing up half of the group at the same time. Beca took a breath and went to speak. Before she had even formed a word, Chloe jumped in. 

“There’s nothing in here that strips us of our title though. That means we still automatically get invited to take part in the world championships.”

“Well of course,” the commentators said, a wry smile on their faces. “But that won’t change anything.”

It was then that Beca managed to find her voice. “What if we win in?” She gave a nod to Chloe in an attempt to show support. The commentators however simply burst out laughing.  
“If we win it will you reinstate us?” Beca repeated her question. She wasn’t quite sure why their conversation was humorous but the look on Chloe face certainly made it seem serious enough to her.

“Sure. If you win it we’ll take back everything but good luck with that because they hate us. The whole world - they hate us.”


	3. Hate Mail

Outside the production studio, Beca put her bag on her shoulder and sighed. She was nervous. After all, this was probably her shot at getting a career she’d always strived for.  
“Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine.” Jesse leant against the boot of his car, smiling at his girlfriend.   
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, I’ll see you later, ‘kay?” Beca gave him a peck on the lips and said her goodbyes, running away r=from his rather embarrassing remarks.  
“That’s my girl!”  
Meanwhile, Fat Amy and Stacie were doing their best to sift through yet another box of hate mail. Flo had also decided to help out, each of them taking a letter and reading them with severe caution. The group had were finally beginning to work better as a team and become stronger as friends, but each delivery of a hundred or so hate didn’t help with moral.

“There we go ladies; we’re officially signed up to worlds.” Chloe beamed, fingers trembling slightly at the daunting prospect of competing at such a high level. Sure she loved performing and competitions were always fun with the girls, but this was going to be on a whole new level for everyone. Looking at the girls in the kitchen, she wasn’t sure if any of them had even left America before.

“Where is it then?” Flo asked, reaching into a package and taking out a purple box. ”For your hairy situation,” she mumbled, studying the box a little. She turned the box round and read the front. “Oh.”

“Well it’s in,” Chloe said, her cheeks almost hurting from smiling so wide. “The very sunny, very beautiful Copenhagen!”

Fat Amy and Stacie exchanged a look, Flo still puzzled at some of the hate mail letters in front of her. “I failed maps ok?” Chloe protested. “I’m sure it’ll be nice. It’ll be fun no matter what.” Taking a sip of her drink, the redhead suddenly noticed the absence of her co-captain. “Has anyone seen Beca today?”

The girls shook their heads and went back to the letters until Amy gasped. “I can’t believe this! Some people are just so judgemental,” she said, holding up a scruffy looking piece of paper. It was like a horror-film prop, each letter having been cut out of newspapers and magazines so the text varied in size, shape and colour.

“Die, bitches, die is quite harsh,” Chloe agreed. “Although at least they used correct punctuation?”

Stacie rolled her eyes and held up another scruffy looking piece of paper, on which had a familiar looking logo printed on it. “Instead of reading all of this garbage, why don’t we go over to the Treblemakers’ party?”

Fat Amy grinned and put her arms into the air. “Yes! That sounds like a great idea. We can even take the legacy. Legacy!” Amy ran out of the room, shouting around the house for wherever Emily had gone to. 

“Maybe you should text Beca to let her know about the Legacy?” Stacie started to put some of the hate mail back into the post box, Flo helping her. “You know she’ll freak out if Emily turns up to rehearsal and she has no idea who the girl is.”

Chloe nodded slowly, biting her lip. “Yeah that’s true. Ok cool. You guys go get the others and I’ll meet you out the front in a bit.”

Hey. Just letting you know we have a legacy in the group. She needs a bit of work but her voice is great, just like yours. See you at Jesse’s party wherever you are.  
After re-reading the text, Chloe deleted it and tried again. She had to be careful what she said – her friendship with Beca was far too special to be ruined now.

'Hey we have a legacy now; kind of a loophole in the rules. See you at Jesse’s party.'


	4. Treblemaker Party

Squeezing through a bush instead of using the gate, the Bellas arrived at the best tiki party of the year. Or at least that’s what Jesse had already been telling people as they arrived. After wondering around the Treblemaker garden for a bit, the Bellas ran into Jesse and a couple of the guys.  
“Hey!” Each person said in a strangely in-sync motion. “Have you seen Beca?” Chloe asked Jesse, taking a sip from her cup. She’d learnt at her first college party that taking your own cup was always a good idea. Unless, of course, you wanted to mix every alcoholic drink under the sun into a potent cocktail.

“No, I thought she was with you this evening,” Jesse said slowly, looking around as if his girlfriend would suddenly pop out of the crowd and shout ‘I’m here’.

“I thought she was with you,” Chloe said. Both sighing at Beca’s lack of punctuality, Chloe and Jesse returned to the party and started to dance. The music was loud, the people were happy and the pool had been decorated with assorted lilos. 

Seeing a mysterious, oddly short, person head towards the tiki bar, Jesse pointed Benji in the direction of the new Bella and headed to meet up with the all-in-black figure. 

“Hello stranger,” he said, grinning a little at his exhausted girlfriend. “Tough day at work?”

Beca nodded and huffed. “It was certainly an eye opener.”

“Why haven’t you told Chloe?”

“Told her what? About the internship?”

Jesse nodded, his grin becoming more serious.

“Because her mind is focussed on the Bellas right now. If I told her, she’d freak out at me.”

Giving a half smile, Jesse held out his hand. Beca took it and they headed to the poolside to where the main body of the party was taking place. As the Bellas came into view, Jesse excused himself to go and cheer Benji up; the poor guy had most likely failed another attempt to talk to the new Bella.

“Oh my gosh, hi!” 

Beca was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a rather tall brunette. “Um hi?”

“I’m so excited to actually meet you,” the girl said. “I’m Emily. I’m your sister. No, wait. I’m a Bella, the new Bella. Hi”

Somehow the various words from the girl’s mouth formed to make a meaningful sentence. “Oh so you’re the legacy Chloe texted me about?”

Emily nodded vigorously, hair flying all over the place. 

“I didn’t even realise that was a thing, sorry,” Beca said, smiling as her eyes wondered to the side of Emily, a flash of red hair catching her attention. “Nice to meet you,” she said. “Let’s go party.”

“Chloe!” Beca shouted, the redhead in the middle of dancing with Stacie and Flo. 

Seeing her friend and co-leader had returned, Chloe bounded over and hugged the brunette tightly. “You’re missing the party! Come on, let’s dance!”


	5. Das Auto Car Show

As the Bellas entered the performance space, it was clear to see that the European group was able to draw a large crowd; nearly all of the table were taken, Das Auto merchandise scattered all over the place. On the stage were two, rather large, Volkswagens. Just as the girls grabbed their place at a table towards the front of the stage, the cars began to move.  
The girls all gasped, a few holding onto each other. Chloe sighed and waved her hands up into the air. “Ok the cars moved. Nothing else happened yet.”  
Beca looked over and smiled; Chloe was right – the cars weren’t even part of the A Capella group’s set. Her nerves started to die down the more flaws she found in the current situation; the cars were for show, the room wasn’t decorated, there weren’t any side-stage wings that she could see and the stage was only just big enough to fit the cars on. Sure the Bellas could fill the space, but they were experts on that by now.  
“But they’re moving backwards. With ghosts driving them.” Fat Amy wasn’t impressed. She was usually so hyped about everything. Beca took a deep breath and told herself that nothing could be too out of their league to beat, even if Amy seemed concerned by backward-moving cars.  
“We are – we are Das Sound Machine.”   
What the girls had seen as weird walls suddenly burst into life, a woman’s face repeated over and over so that all in the space could see her.   
“A German collective operating in concert to create sonic – sonic mastery. What better way to appreciate automotive perfection.”  
Chloe tutted and folded her arms. Normally she would have laughed at the motion, but Beca was too worried about what was going to happen to take notice of Chloe’s adorable tantrum.  
“They will not control us. We will be victorious.”  
Out of the mist and lasers came a spikey-haired man, the microphone close to his face. Out of his mouth, however, came sounds the Bellas had never heard before. Or at least those sounds had never come from a human.  
“Paranoia is in bloom, the PR transmissions will resume. They try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down and hope that we will never see the truth around.”  
In a matter of seconds, the fog had cleared and the group grew into roughly fifty people. The Bellas would be swarmed by them, like locusts eating a farmer’s crop. The dancers were buff and perfectly in sync with one another. The man with spiked hair was creating insane beats. Sure the Bellas could never create some of the base notes that guys could, but since when was beatboxing like that a thing?  
“Victorious!”  
As soon as it had started, it was over. The audience’s applause was more of a roar than a polite clap and the members of DSM seemed all too used to the reaction. Slowly but surely the car enthusiasts, A Capella nerds and DSM fan club started to clear the hall. The Bellas also went to leave, but were stopped by the group themselves, the blonde woman standing right in front of Beca. She was weirdly tall but then Beca had always been told that she was actually weirdly small.

“Barden Bellas!” Kommissar took a towel from Pieter and dabbed it along her neck. “You came here to see us? Is it because you are – what do the American kids say… jelly?”

Chloe rolled her eyes and pouted. “We are so not jelly.”

Kommissar laughed, Pieter joining in. “We should really thank you. Should we send them a fruit basket?”

Pieter nodded; “yum yum.”

“Ok we didn’t come here to start something, we just wanted to check you out before the worlds where we’re gonna kick your ass.” Beca said, hoping the girls behind her were making intimidating faces. She for one felt intimated, not that she was going to show it. Her whole look was part made up from being dead-pan.

“But you are so tiny, like an elf.” The blonde woman took a step closer to Beca, a grin wide on her face. The brunette couldn’t help but notice Chloe’s shift in attitude; she didn’t look scared anymore but annoyed instead.

“You are,” Beca mumbled slightly, trying to find the best comeback she could. The Bellas needed this boost in moral and if they couldn’t prove their worth through singing right this minute, her insult would have the make up for it. “Physically flawless.”

Chloe spun her head, jaw dropped. Now she looked furious, mixed with a little confusion. Kommissar simply laughed and her smile grew even larger. “Thank you.”

“But it doesn’t mean I like you,” Beca said, attempting to muster as much sass as she could. However by the permanent look of ‘what’ on Chloe’s face, she could tell that she didn’t succeed.

“We’re not scared about the worlds because when the Bellas hit the stage, we’re going to blow minds.” Chloe pouted again and some of the Bellas nodded their approval. At least they had one strong comeback. 

“Darlings don’t try to beat us; we’re the best. Now I must go and rest my neck. It is tired from looking down on you.” The blonde woman lead the German group away, their black mesh clothing fading almost instantly into the darkened room.

“Ok,” Beca shouted after them. “Just because you’re making me very sexually confused does not mean that you’re intimidating. We literally have nothing to lose! Aca-wiedersehen bitches!” She trailed off as normality came back to her mind and she realised Chloe’s hand was resting on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry Beca,” the redhead said, a faint smile on her lips. “We’ll beat them at worlds, no doubt.”


	6. Skills Assessment

“Okay, we’re going to beat DSM at their own game; do what they do, just better.” Beca addressed the group. After the car show, it was tough to see how their little group could end up beating such a machine of people. Smiling the worry away, Beca looked over to Chloe who beamed back at her and continued with the plan.  
“And we’re about to do a full skills assessment to blow out our choreography to match.” The redhead had her game face on, the white board behind her displaying ‘Das Sound Machine’ in blue whiteboard pen. As much as Chloe was quite clearly obsessed with the Bella’s situation, Beca was impressed that she was willing to try so hard to see their group prevail.  
With Chloe’s instruction beginning, Beca headed over to a grand piano to the side of the rehearsal space and opened up her laptop – she needed to crack down on their set. So far, her internship had gotten in the way. With headphones on, the redhead’s orders faded into a blur of fuzzy sound and the smooth lyrics of various song matches poured into Beca’s ears.  
As the girls were setting up the space, tidying away chairs, getting out equipment, Beca could help but look over to Chloe, wondering how she actually felt about their new rival. Chloe always looked pretty confident but sometimes she snapped, like in the dean’s office. Maybe she was more fragile than Beca had thought. The image of Chloe crying creeped its way into her mind, causing her ears to go numb. She couldn’t hear the music pounding at her ear drums – she could only think of how many times the redhead must have cried about leaving the Bellas, holding on as tight as she could.   
Shaking the horrible thought away, Beca returned to her laptop and to the set, trying to ignore whatever the long, silver tunnels we going to be used for. The Bellas begun to practice their ribbon work, Fat Amy flicking her ribbon into Stacie’s face, Flo and Lilly were playing with the hoola-hoops, and Chloe was…  
Beca felt her jaw drop a little at the redhead dancing up a small flight of stairs. It wasn’t what she would have called dancing but then the skills assessment was also about fitness. Either way, Chloe looked mesmerising, especially when she got to the top and smiled towards the moody brunette. A shiver ran down her spine and Beca saw her phone light up beside her.   
Hey, it’s me. Hope you have a great afternoon at the studio. Remember that they’re lucky to have you and you’re special. Love you, Jesse x  
The brunette pressed the button on the side of her phone and the screen went black; she needed to concentrate on the Bellas before she could think of the internship. One thing at a time.  
After Fat Amy had put out a flaming stick, Cynthia Rose had found her way into a giant silver tunnel and Jessica had hit Ashley in the face with a baton, Chloe came over to the grand piano to see how Beca was getting on.  
“It’s like usual,” the brunette explained. “I’ve got some ideas that I’m trying to work with but they don’t quite fit yet. The bits that do fit don’t even make sense.”

“Have you tried just listening to the songs and seeing what happens?”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at Chlo.”

The redhead took Beca’s headphones from the piano and put them over her head. She tapped the spacebar and the music began to play. Instantly, she started to dance, letting the music guide her as to where her arms and legs moved. As rare as it was, Beca couldn’t help but beam at Chloe; watching her be happy just made her feel happy too. It was kind of infectious, but Chloe seemed to have that effect on people.

“Come on, you try,” Chloe said, holding out the headphones to Beca. Rather reluctant, the brunette rolled her eyes and reached out to get the headphones. Just as her fingers touched the last bit of cable, Chloe placed the headphones over Beca’s head for her, their eyes meeting in a non-threatening stand-off way. For the first time, Beca realised just how blue the redhead’s eyes were.

The spacebar was tapped and music filled Beca’s head, Chloe seemingly unaware at the weirdness of the moment. Although the brunette had to admit that Chloe was right; the music washed over her and her feet started to move all over the place in a poor attempt at dancing. Song after song played and soon enough she could see a clear image of how they could fit together.

“Thanks Chloe, you’re a life-saver.” 

“You’re very welcome,” Chloe beamed, skipping off to bark orders at the other Bellas.

At the end of the session, Beca was half way to a finished set and felt a little bit proud of herself. As she packed up her laptop, Emily came over to the piano, hands shaking.

“Uh, is it weird that we never got round to singing today?” The legacy kept flicking between Beca’s face and the piano, quite clearly nervous.

“Well it’s uh,” Beca mumbled, packing away her laptop. “Kind of hard to start singing without arrangements and that’s on me, so, thank you for reminding me.”

“Right, yeah. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been working really hard on calming my nerves and keeping my eyes open and-“

As the legacy bumbled on, saying word after words about eyes or something, Beca watched as Chloe lead the other girls out of the rehearsal space. Her blue eyes locked onto Beca’s and they shared a half-smile. Another shiver ran down the moody brunette’s spine until her phone vibrated in her hand.

Event Reminder: Internship – 30 mins

“Don’t mean to be rude,” she said, wincing a little at having to interrupt Emily. “I just have somewhere that I need to be. Um, you did great today.”

“Thanks,” Emily muttered, smiling half-heartedly.


	7. Snoop Dogg

Beca had managed to get away from Jesse’s embarrassing shouts quicker this time, heading straight into the studio. Snoop Dogg was recording today and somehow she was chosen to provide coffee for the people recording him. She spent the first fourty minutes making coffee and microwaving burritos, as well as running from one end of the studios to the other just to get someone the right packet of crisps. Finally, it was announced that Snoop Dogg would be arriving in twenty minute, giving the recording group an incredibly short time to get everything ready before he arrived. 

Before going into the recording studio itself, Beca took her phone out of her jacket pocket to turn it off, only to see she had a text from Chloe.

'Hey Becs. I know beating DSM is stressing everyone out but just remember that I’m here if you need to talk. Yeah being moody is who you are but I can tell something’s bothering you. Like I said, I’m here if you need to talk.'

Had Chloe found out she was at an internship? Maybe Jesse had said something? Beca took a breath and composed herself. She turned off her phone and went into the studio. One of the world’s most famous artists was going to be recording; she needed to absorb everything about the next two hours and worry about Chloe, no, the Bellas, wouldn’t help.

When the brunette returned to the Bella house, pumped from impressing her sort-of boss, she was surprised to hear screams and squeals from inside. She opened the door with caution and headed to the living room. There she found the Bellas in the midst of a serious-looking pillow fight, all beaming and giggling.

“You know this set’s women back, like, thirty years?”

Out of the chaos of feathers and flying pillows, Chloe stepped off of the sofa and grinned at Beca. “We’re just relieving some stress.” 

The brunette bit her lip as she blue eyes in front of her shone brighter by the second. Beca wasn’t able to stay dead-pan for long, a smile growing onto her face; Chloe’s happiness really was infectious.

Fat Amy stopped hitting Flo with a pillow and came over to Beca, grabbing a piece of pink card from the brunette’s hand. Whatever trance Beca was in suddenly broke as she remembered, “Oh that was on the porch.”

Chloe took the card from Amy and looked over the golden writing on the front. “Oh, what is that? It looks fancy.” Her eyes flicked up to Beca’s, a mischievous glint shinning in her blue stare.

As the redhead unfolded the card, a low choral note came from the paper itself. The girls gathered round the strange object and stared at it over Chloe’s shoulder. This was way more interesting than pillow fighting. 

Opening it fully, a chord built up and blasted both Chloe and the other Bellas with the luscious sound. “Woah,” the redhead muttered. “It looks like we’ve been invited to sing at some kind of a party.”

Emily threw her fists into the air. “We’re going to sing? Finally!”


	8. Laser Ninja Dragon League

Arriving at the door, a small hatch opened. The house was a mile or so away from Barden University and the house seemed normal enough. The whole thing was a bit weird to say the least, especially the so-called password.

“Fart noise?” Beca said, embarrassed at the words she was telling an open hatch. There was no face to be seen on the other side making it even stranger. A groan came from the other side of the hatch and Beca looked over to Chloe. The redhead shrugged.

Hoping she was right, Beca held up her arm and blew a raspberry into it, making a childish ‘fart noise’. She could feel her cheeks warming up and Chloe’s giggles weren’t helping. Luckily the hatch closed and the door opened, behind which was a man in a blue satin robe, stood on a scooter.

They Bellas followed the scooting man into his kitchen where he stood one side of the counter, and they on the other. “So what can we do for you?” Beca asked, unsure if she actually wanted to hear the answer.

The man smiled and said, “Well the other day when I was having a tinkle, it occurred to me,” His smile vanished and Beca followed his gaze to Fat Amy’s hand approaching a goose statue.

“Do not! Do not!” The man shouted, his arms waving rapidly. “That was rude. You do not come into a man’s house and touch his goose.”

Chloe giggled again and the brunette smiled to herself. There it was again; the infectious happiness. Although the bizarre nature of a man shouting about his goose was making Beca wonder if she was actually having a dream. As the Bellas followed the man along a corridor, she watched Chloe chatting to Stacie. The redhead looked excited rather than the look of worry she’d had on her face recently. Now Beca hoped this wasn’t a dream at all.

Going down a flight of stairs, thumping music came from behind a curtain. Having seen enough weird things so far that day, Beca was hardly surprised to see the basement space filled with people. Looking closer, she noticed that the Tonehangers were there with Bumper, the Green Bay Packers were doing shots and even the Treblemakers were there.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Beca said as Jesse came over to greet the girls. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t quite know. What are you doing here?”

Suddenly, Chloe grabbed Beca’s arm and pointed to the opposite side of the room. “It’s Das Sound Machine,” she whispered into the brunette’s ear.

“Tiny mouse! We meet again.” Kommissar waltzed over to the Bellas, drink in hand and Pieter following close behind. Their tall, muscular bodies certainly made Beca feel tiny.

“So! Have you abandoned your foolish plans to face us at the worlds?” The blonde woman had a sly smirk on her lips, addling Beca’s brain.

“You wish,” she said, confident that her usually snappy brain would pull something out the bag. “You… gorgeous… specimen.” 

Kommissar and Pieter looked a little confused by the comment but Chloe folded her arms and stared hard at Beca. The brunette could feel the piercing blue eyes burning into her skin. She hadn’t seen Chloe get like that before; maybe the redhead was annoyed that Beca had once again failed at making up a comeback to defend the Bellas. 

Not sure what else to say with Kommissar’s glittering eyes staring at her, Beca turned to Chloe. “Ugh, she’s really in my head.”

Chloe’s expression softened a little but didn’t give away too much of what she was feeling. The brunette made sure to keep a mental note of that; Chloe was acting strange.

“Very well,” the blonde woman said, her words lyrical. “I’d be very happy to send you there; I’ll mail you. A large envelope? Cost’s nothing.” Her gaze grew intense as Beca felt her mind start to crumble. This woman was really confusing her. 

“Did you ever think maybe you’re too big?” Beca shouted, trying desperately to maintain the image of the Bellas of being able to handle themselves. As she took a step forward, Chloe put her arm in front, holding the brunette back. “It would cost a fortune to mail you! You’re enormous!”

The redhead pushed Beca back until they were a few meters away from Kommissar and Pieter. “Okay, okay, calm down now Beca. We need to concentrate on whatever we’re doing here and not just beating DSM.” 

As clarity came to Beca’s mind, she noticed that Chloe was holding her hands. Her fingers were so much softer than Jesse’s; even the back of her hands were- Beca stopped stroking the backs of Chloe’s hands with her thumbs and fiddled with her hair.

“Yeah, you’re right. DSM can wait until we finish this party thing.”

“And besides,” Chloe muttered, curling a finger around one of Beca’s. “Kommissar’s got nothing on you, I promise.” She winked and Beca felt shivers along her spine yet again.


	9. The Riff-Off

“Let’s have a look at the first category!”   
Everyone in the room stared up at the electronic board, the top section ‘rolling’ until it clicked into one position.  
“Ooh, songs about butts.” The scooter man seemed surprisingly pleased at the choice of category. Meanwhile the Bellas wracked their heads for a good choice of song.  
“Anything on the radio, right?” Beca suggested to Chloe, the other girls listening intently. A plan was needed if they were to beat Das Sound Machine; this wasn’t their usual Uni riff off. Chloe nodded in agreement, “Right.”  
“Let’s start with,” the man said, waving his finger around the room. No-one spoke, slightly hoping they would be chosen, but again, not wanting the pressure of going first. “Das Sound Machine!”  
Immediately, the German group created a solid beat, mostly down to the spikey-haired man. A few of the front row members were dancing, wide grins staring down the Bellas and anyone else in the room that might of previously thought they stood a chance of beating them.  
“She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck. Thighs like a what, what, what.”  
Although Beca’s concentration was on the sheer power of DSM’s vocals, the host pointed his finger at the Tonehangers.  
“Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake. Shake your booty.”  
The host begun to wave his finger around the room no sooner than the Tonehangers had started performing their song. Stacie made her way to the front of the Bellas and grinned to Beca and Chloe. “I’ve got this,” she whispered. Sure enough, the host pointed to the Bellas and Stacie’s voice filled the room.  
“Shawty had that apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur.”  
Fat Amy and Lilly followed close behind her, matching the beat that DSM had originally set. Now knowing what their plan was, Beca began to relax. She and the other Bellas joined in.  
“With the fur! The whole club was looking at her. She hit the floor, she hit the floor. Next thing you know, shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low low.”  
Without meaning to, the Bellas got into the song and were dancing all over the place. As the Green Bay Packers were chosen to continue the beat, the brunette realised she had been dancing with Chloe without a care in the world. She felt her cheeks start to burn and attempted to ignore the beam on the redhead’s face.  
Time passed and songs were sung. Benji let his nerves get the better of him again leading to the Treblemakers being dropped from the competition. Beca wondered if Emily knew it was because of her. The Green Bay Packers and Tonehangers didn’t last too much longer, both failing miserably on their song choice, or lack of one.  
“Now we have a showdown!” The host was waving his arms all over the place, the crowd getting excited. “Let’s do this face-off style,” he said, getting a cheer from the crowd again. Everyone in the world of A Capella knew that the Barden Bellas had to beat Das Sound Machine to get their reputation back and that was something worth watching, unlike the Sock-a-pellas. 

'This is how we do it. I’m kind of buzzed and it’s all because this is how we do it.'

DSM had come up with a good song and their beatboxer was rocking out along with about four others helping to create the thick beat. Pieter and Kommissar were taking the lead but the other members of the group didn’t seem to mind; they seemed to have ranks in their group unlike the Bellas who were a group of friends.

'Girls you know you’d better watch out,' Cynthia Rose jumped into action, an annoyed expression burning into Pieter’s face. 'Some guys, some guys are only about that thing-'

'That girl is poison.' Pieter got up in Amy’s face although she didn’t seemed fazed by the looming figure bearing over her. 'Never trust a big butt and smile that girl is poison.'

As Beca suspected, Fat Amy held her own. 'Here we go yo, here we go yo, so what’s, so what’s the scenario.'

'Insane is the membrane. Insane in the brain!'

As Pieter hit back at Fat Amy, the Australian was unable to think of another song as a comeback. Beca looked to Chloe but both shrugged their shoulders, a panicked expression on both their faces. No-one seemed to have an idea of what to sing next.

'I got all I need when I got you and I ‘cause I look around me and see a sweet light,' Emily had started singing but it was even worse than before; Beca couldn’t recall ever hearing the song before. In the corner of her eye, she could see Chloe biting her lip. Obviously the redhead knew the song but why wasn’t she singing it?

“I’m sorry. What 90’s hip-hop jam is that again?" The host slowly walked towards Emily, the Bellas not knowing what to do other than to move out of the way. Sure the Legacy had accidentally killed the entire beat and almost certainly lost them the riff-off, but the host hadn’t acted like that before.

“More like a 21st century jam. That’s it. Yeah, I wrote it.”

As soon as those words came from Emily’s mouth, the redhead knew her worst fears had come true. Beca didn’t look too pleased either.

“You’re saying it’s an original?”

“Yes, I’m saying it’s an original.”

The crowd started to boo at the Legacy, her once smiling face now looking disappointed.

“What is your name?” The host looked calm, but Beca could see tears welling up in his eyes.

“Emily.”

“Emily.” The host paused, silence covering the room like a thick blanket. “I hate you.”


	10. Emily

“Great, now DSM thinks they have the drop on us,” Chloe said, running a hand through her hair. Beca didn’t know how to respond – the redhead was right but at the same time, at least Emily had had the guts to sing something.

“I might just go crawl under a rock and die,” the legacy mumbled, looking to the floor. Beca put her hand the on girl’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Hey we don’t-” Beca said as she looked over to Chloe. Seeing the redhead’s eyebrows raised, she held a finger up to her. “We don’t want that.”

Annoyed, Chloe made her way to the far corner of the room and put her head in her hands. Beca apologised to Emily and went after the redhead.

“I know the Bellas mean a lot to you Chloe but that doesn’t mean-”

“The Bellas are the only thing I have Beca.” The redhead had tears in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling. “This has been the last seven years of my life; nothing else has mattered. If DSM beat us and the Bellas-” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Not quite knowing what else to do, Beca simply held out her arms and allowed Chloe to fill the gap. The girls weren’t strangers to each other like this with the amount of dancing they did together, not to mention Beca’s pre-audition in the Uni showers. However, this felt different; Chloe was shaking in her arms and it hurt inside to see the redhead so choked up about something.

“If I know anything,” the brunette muttered, thinking on her feet. “It’s that you are the most enthusiastic person I know. If anyone can help get the Bellas back on track, it’s you Chlo.”

Wiping her eyes, Chloe smiled a little. “Thanks Beca. Has anyone told you that you’re a great hugger?”

Beca shook her head, confused at the statement. Her reaction must have been peculiar because Chloe started to laugh. 

“You should be like this more often,” the redhead said. “It’s nice seeing a different side to you.” 

“That’s a weird thing to say,” the brunette said slowly. “I wouldn’t say the same to you; crying definitely doesn’t do anything for your look.” Chloe hit Beca’s arm but laughed all the same.

“Smiling a little more often would help you look more approachable?” The redhead bit her lip as she waited for Beca’s reply. The brunette’s jaw dropped but she also burst into a fit of laughter. 

“Although saying that,” Chloe said under her breath. “You have actually been smiling more. That’s a bit weird.”

Beca shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t say I know why. You know that’s another weird thing to say? Besides, when have you seen me smile? Are you secretly stalking me?”

The girls giggled again but the look in Chloe’s eye was different this time. As their laughter faded away, they just locked at one another, neither flinching nor daring to move.

“Beca I-” started the redhead, but at the same moment, Jesse came up behind the brunette and tapped her on the shoulder.

“You guys should join in with the party instead of standing back here. Come on!” He grabbed Beca’s hand and took her off into the crowd.

“Sorry,” Beca shouted as she disappeared into the mist of bodies, the redhead vanishing from her field of vision. She could only hope that she’d cheered Chloe up, at least for now.


	11. Fourteen Hour Smoothie

“Hey,” Beca said, addressing a tip-toeing Fat Amy. Having just got off the phone to leave Jesse a message, she could really use some of the witty lines that her friend had to offer.

“What? A girl can’t say she’d going to grab a smoothie and return fourteen hours later?” Amy was on the defensive, but it was funny to watch. “There’s nothing suspicious about that. Why you up so late anyways?”

Fat Amy walked over to the side of her bed, a puzzled expression on her face.

“I’ve just been figuring some things out.” Beca wiped a tear from her eye, trying hard not to think too much about her let-down of a day at work. 

“You working on the set?” Amy went into their sort-of walk-in wardrobe. Beca wasn’t sure what to say but decided that a half-truth would be better than lying completely. Fat Amy was very good at weeding out secrets, hence why she was usually the one Beca went to when she needed to talk to someone other than Jesse.

“Uh no, not on the set,” Beca muttered. Fat Amy came out of the wardrobe space a minute later and sat down on her bed. “If you did want to share something with me, your best friend,” she said, approaching the subject carefully. “I’m a great keeper of secrets. I’m like a safe that locks with a key,” Amy was getting a little off-subject but it was cheering Beca up. “And the key is stashed up my bum because-”

“It’s fine, forget it. It’s all good.” 

“So it’s got nothing to do with that internship that you sneak off to?” Fat Amy didn’t show any sort of expression but the brunette was suddenly very worried. If Amy knew, then what about the other Bellas? Did Chloe know and just refused to say?

“Come on Beca. You know how we do that thing every month where I take twenty dollars out of your purse and you pretend not to notice? I saw your ID badge in your bag. Don’t be mad.” For some reason, this secret didn’t seem to faze Fat Amy as she looked blankly at Beca, the brunette trying to wrap her head around the situation. 

“I’m not, I’m not mad,” Beca muttered. “About the badge, the money I want to come back to…”

Fat Amy suddenly stood up and walked over to the brunette, a finger pressed to her lips. “Let’s just focus on your lie. Beca why didn’t you tell us? Or at least Chloe?”

The mention of the redhead’s name sent a shiver down Beca’s spine except this time it didn’t feel happy. She could only feel pure and utter guilt. The moment she begun to hate her decision, she remembered why she’d done it. “It was just easier,” she said, attempting to shake the truth of Amy’s statement off. “There’s just so much going and Chloe would lose her mind if she didn’t think my sole focus was on winning worlds.”

As she spoke, Beca could only imagine what Chloe would say if she found out the truth. She would no doubt feel betrayed. That would lead to her crying. Beca’s thoughts simmered down as the memory of Chloe crying echoed around in her mind. 

Feeling a lump form in her throat, Beca said, “Sorry, just now I’m freaking out ‘cause um, it turns out, like, totally not good enough to be a music producer which is cool and fun to know as I enter the rest of my life.”

“Ok, just gonna stop you right there,” Fat Amy said, bringing the brunette back to reality. “You’re the most talented person that I know, and I’ve met three of the wiggles! Intimately! Beca, do you know how awesome you are? You’re Beca effing Mitchell ok? You’re the big ‘BM’! You’re awesome.”

Fat Amy paused for a moment. “Do you need some of my confidence ‘cause I could probably tone mine down a notch.”

Not quite sure what else to do in the situation, Beca agreed.

“Ok, I’m gonna get you the good stuff now,” Fat Amy said, her hand reaching behind her.

“No, I don’t want butt confidence. I don’t- I don’t want it, no!” With Fat Amy determined to give Beca her butt confidence, the blonde girl climbed onto the brunette’s bed and smothered her with ‘confidence’.


	12. Bruno Mars

The evening soon turned into early morning and Beca was no-where near close to having any sort of arrangement. It wasn’t looking good for her future career. The brunette looked over to her friend who had started to snore. Fat Amy seemed to have her life sorted out, or at least this bit of it. Beca wasn’t sure if they’d even be able to win the worlds, although being positive wasn’t usually in her character. That was-

“Pst,” came a voice from behind Beca’s door. “Is Fat Amy asleep? I don’t need the whole world to know I’m awake at four am; it would totally ruin my ‘calm’ image.”

Beca got off her bed and opened the door a little, surprised to see Chloe standing behind it. 

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t expect you to be up so early. I thought you might have been Stacie or something.”

Chloe laughed and squeezed past Beca, going over to sit on the brunette’s bed. “Oh what’s all this? Is this stuff for our set?” She put on the headphones but seemed confused when nothing was displayed on the screen – there wasn’t any sort of set to be seen.

“No, no, that’s not set stuff.”

Chloe threw Beca a scared look. There may have been a hint of anger about it as well so Beca held up her hands and laughed a little.

“That’s just a file where I test stuff out for the set. The set itself is in a different program so I don’t get the two confused is all.”

The redhead nodded slowly and took the headphones off. “Why have you been crying?”

“What? I haven’t- what on earth?”

“Your eyes are red, Beca. Even I know that means you’ve been crying.”

The brunette reluctantly sat beside Chloe, trying to figure out what she could and couldn’t say to the ‘Bella-laser-focus’ girl.

“Before you say anything,” Chloe put her hand on Beca’s knee, her eyes glinting as she smiled. “Just know that I’m here for you no matter what. Whatever is going on, you can tell me.”

“That’s nice of you to say Chlo but,” Beca took a breath and decided to go with the bare minimum. “It’s nothing to worry about; I was just getting worked up over the set. It’s stressing me out, you know? I may look a mess, but I promise I’m ok.”

Chloe giggled, mumbling something under her breath.

“What did you say?” Beca was intrigued; the redhead never mumbled.

'Yeah I know, I know when I compliment her, she won’t believe me. And it’s so, it’s so sad to think that she doesn’t see what I see, but every time she asks me do I look ok I say,' the redhead was whispering, but her voice was still angelic. 

Beca thought back to their spontaneous night in the pool; had it really never occurred to them to mash things up a bit? Either way, Aubrey’s choice in song had left a permanent grin on the redhead’s face whenever the song came on. For some reason, it felt right in this moment. Maybe Chloe had worked on timing things better since the shower incident. Beca paused and sighed internally; there was no way the redhead would have done something like that – it was a story too often told by Chloe of how Beca truly auditioned for the Bellas.

The brunette’s wondering mind eventually came back to her bedroom and to the sparkling blue circles staring at her. Chloe was about to continue the song but it just felt right that-

'When I see your face,' Beca sang, in perfect timing with Chloe. 

'There’s not a thing that I would change ‘cause you’re amazing,' the redhead grinned and begun to create a harmony. 

'Just the way you are.'

Biting her lip, Chloe seemed to be waiting for some sort of answer from Beca. Whatever the question had been, she’d well and truly missed it; the brunette had been concentrating on the words, trying not to get distracted by that infectious smile.

Giving a small nod, Chloe got up and headed towards the door. “You really are amazing Beca,” she said, sounding almost sad. “I just wish you could understand how much you mean to me.”

There was an awkward silence for a minute. Was the redhead saying what Beca thought she was saying? It wasn’t unknown for Chloe to babble on about all sorts of feelings, but that was because she was just a super caring person, right? Suddenly, Fat Amy snored loudly, causing Beca to giggle. 

“If I actually get to sleep tonight, it will be a miracle.” Beca’s comment made the redhead laugh, warming her heart a little.

“Goodnight Beca.”

“Night Chloe.”


End file.
